All national service persons from next year will undergo military training before being dispatched to work at their various stations.

The National Service Secretariat (NSS) said this will equip the personnel physically and mentally, as well as instil in them a sense of patriotism they are expected to acquire at the end of the service.

The Executive Secretary of the secretariat, Mr Vincent Senam Kuagbenu said this in an interview with the press in Accra.

He said his outfit is simply responding to calls to bring back a useful component of the scheme when it was started.

Mr Kuagbenu said the secretariat is currently working on the modalities to ensure a smooth take-off of the programme but hinted the budget for it is huge.

Meanwhile, the NSS has deployed 230 national service persons to assist Members of Parliament (MPs) in the performance of their duties.

The secretariat said the service personnel are expected to conduct researches to facilitate the job of the MPs they are assigned to.

Kuagbenu explained that the move is in fulfilment of a promise by President Mills to get graduates to assist the MPs.

“I don’t expect to see parliamentary research assistants sitting in Parliament, that is not the work of a research assistant,” he said.

He said MPs have for long been unable to scrutinise bills before they are passed into laws because the legislators have had no assistants to help them with their work.

The NSS has posted a total of 60,700 personnel to serve in various sectors including education, health and the private sector.

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